Annette S Beveridge completed translation
Babarnama into English in the year
1921. At that time she could have hardly known what dimension Babri masjid would
acquire seventy years after she translated Baburnama.

It is well known that some parts of Baburnama are missing and the period (934
- 935 AH) during which Babar visited Ayodhya and supposed to have given order
for the construction of this mosque is one of those. Mir Baqi would demolish a
temple regarded to have been built on the birth site of Lord Rama om his own is
highly unlikely. This issue of Babri mosque is not dealt with in the main text
of Baburinama but Annette Beveridge did deal with this issue in an appendix,
Appendix 'U'.

In this she quotes the inscription inside and outside the mosque as sent to
her husband by the Deputy Commissioner of Fyzabad.

In her footnote, she notes:

Presumably the order for building the mosque was given during Babur's stay in
Aud (Ajodhya) in 934 AH at which time he would be impressed by the dignity and
sanctity of the ancient Hindu shrine it (at least in part) displaced, and like
the obedient follower of Muhammad he was in intolerance of another Faith, would
regard the substitution of a temple by a mosque as dutiful and worthy -- The
mosque was finished in 935AH but no mention of its completion is in the
Baburnama. The diary for 935 AH has many lacunae; that of the year 934 AH has
lost much matter, breaking off before where the account of Aud might be looked
for.

Beveridge leaves no doubt that this mosque did replace an existing Hindu
temple (shrine) of impressive beauty.

I have been going through Baburanama and so far I have found only a few
mention of the destruction of Hindu temples and building of mosques in their
place in the text which compared to the destruction of Hindu temples in annals
of Muslims from Kasim to Aurangzeb is quite perplexing. Did Babar not destroy
Hindu temples or did he just not mention them in his memoirs which are rather
very detailed otherwise. Or have most the Hindu temples in the country he was
visiting already been demolished -- from Punjab to Bihar and down to Gwaliar? He
was a very devout Muslim despite his earlier indulgence in drinking and
womanizing -- which h, as he himslef records, gave up soon after he came to
India -- mostly reckoning the time of the day by prayer times. He was very proud
of his being a Ghazi and incessantly talks of killing pagan Hindus and making
towers of Hindu skulls.

He wrote:

For Islam's sake, I wandered in the wilds,

Prepared for war with pagans and Hindus,

Resolved myself to meet the martyr's death,

Thanks be to God! a ghazi I became.

(Baburnama pp. 575)

The question comes why did he build a mosque at Ayodhya on that hill of all
places while he could have built a mosque anywhere? Ayodhya at that time was
quite an obscure place, not a big kingdom or anything of that sort.

It is well known that most of the Hindu temples and specially those very Holy
to the Hindus like in Somnath, Mulsthan, Thanesar, Mathura, in north India have
already been destroyed and plundered by earlier Muslim invaders/rulers from
Kasim to Tughlaqs. Had this temple escaped? Or was it rebuilt?

Had Babar known the sanctity of this shrine for the Hindus and by its
destruction sending an unambiguous message to the Hindus that he is the new boss
in "town"?

I don't know how many mosques are in India that were specifically sanctioned
to be built by Babar? Baburnama does not talk of Babur ordering building of many
mosques -- he talks of building water tanks and gardens. He was really fond of
gardens.

Why a mosque in Ayodhya of all the places to make a religious and political
statement?